“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” – George Bernard Shaw

At a party recently, someone asked me about the Snake vs Pig clash this year. So I said, oh, well it’s a technical clash. Of course, that means nothing to the lay person. So on the spot, I thought up of this explanation.

The Snake sees the Pig. Both think they can get each other. Not that the Pig WANTS to eat the Snake. But the Snake, whilst he wants to eat the Pig (and no, we are not talking about an Amazon python or anaconda – just your regular size snake), the size of the pig (and I mean PIG) is obviously intimidating. So the Snake HISSES intimidatingly and the Pig SNORTS and dares the Snake to come and get some.

And on it goes. Hiss. Snort. Hiss. Snort.

And in the end, neither Snake nor Pig actually does anything because they both realise, that neither can actually get the other. (as I said, mini pigs and super snakes don’t feature in this parable).

Which is why the Snake x Pig clash is all noise, lots of drama, but nothing really actually happens.

For fun I went to Youtube and googled Snake eats Pig/Pig vs Snake and aside from a bunch of videos where pythons eat small pigs or pythons eat mini dead pigs, i never found a live example of a live pig vs a live snake.

That, is the meaning, indirectly and in layman’s terms, of technical clash in the instant of Pig vs Snake.

….is all in his BaZi.

On the BBC Sport website, Armstrong revealed:

• doping was “part of the process required to win the Tour”
• he did not feel he was cheating at the time and viewed it as a “level playing field”
• he did not fear getting caught
• “all the fault and blame” should lie with him
• he was a bully who “turned on” people he did not like
• his cancer fight in the mid-1990s gave him a “win-at-all costs” attitude

Whenever you have statements from the mare’s mouth so to speak, it’s a great way to correspond it to the person’s chart (a form of reverse engineering learning) and then learn what each star truly encapsulates in terms of character/personality.

Lance Armstrong BaZi (Time not Accurate)

Here’s how you do the ‘conversion’ from BaZi speak to Human Speak and vice versa.

doping was “part of the process required to win the Tour”

So usually I have a long treatise on the subject matter of the annual forecast – I like to make things complicated, yes I know. Anyway, this time around, I thought I would start off with the easy, straightforward version for the non-technically inclined readers. No doubt the contents of this forecast will shock the casual readers because it contains neither recommendations for portions, portents or requires slaughtering of chickens or scattering of entrails. It also apparently makes no reference to the BaZi of the year (see below).

BaZi for 2013

Briefly I’ll explain why. The BaZi for the year captures the influences of the elements on a GLOBAL scale. The average human being on the other hand, does not often engage in activities that have global influence. The president of the United States on the other hand, is someone whose actions have a global influence. So the Global effect caused by the change in energies to the year of the Water Snake would be relevant to him. But for the average person, it’s about as relevant as this year’s haute couture on the catwalks of Paris. You are much better off looking at the influence of the Annual Pillar which is Gui Si on your personal BaZi chart.

And although it’s not terribly relevant, the obsessive minded may want to note the transition date to the year of the Water Snake is 4 February 2013, Early Rat Hour.

So, to keep it simple and straight-forward for the non-technically inclined BaZi types who are reading this entry, we’ll stick to the tried and tested ‘Winners, Losers, Uncertain Regard’ categories of the past.

DISCLAIMER: None of the contents of this blog post are to substitute the informed professional opinion of a BaZi consultant, interpreting a BaZi chart in full. For best results, a professional consultation is always recommended (not necessarily with me but you get the point). Finally, I make no commitment or obligation to cover all the Day Masters and you may read this entire segment and find nothing that applies to you. in which, please return to the start of the Disclaimer.

WINNERS

Since the Snake King rules in 2013, all those with Year Pillars that have an affinity to Gui Si will obviously have a slightly advantageous year. Accordingly, those born in the year of the Rooster 酉 and Ox 丑 will have first dibs at any positive outcomes from the year. Those with Ox in the year or the Day Pillar will certainly be happy to see something positive after the Dragon year. However, if you have used the Dragon year well (Destruction CAN be positive), then the Snake year heralds in the opportunity to go forth with a clean slate. Roosters didn’t have too bad a year in 2012 and so will just see continued smooth path in 2013. Extra points if you have both – hello Three Harmony Combination! That means 2013 will give rise to some unique opportunities for you, depending on your Day Master.

After the Rooster and the Ox, the next beneficiary of 2013 will be those born in the year of the Monkey 申. This is because Monkey and Snake is a Combination.

Everyone else not born in the above years can still claim some benefits if they have a Ox, Rooster or Monkey in the Month or Year Branches.

Of course, the golden rule is that you DO NOT HAVE a PIG 亥  Earthly Branch in the chart. If you do, you just dropped into the Uncertain Regard category.

I first ran this class in 2012 for a group of students who requested a clarification and application private class on the topic, which was part of the Mastery Academy Module 4. Out of respect of the copyright of Mastery Academy on the information given out in their classes, my classes did not involve going through each and every pillar and giving out notes on each pillar.

But I did have a further rationale for this practice in addition to the respect for MA’s IP and that is that really, useful as they are, the notes have limited value in terms of enhancing a student’s BaZi interpretation skills if there is no understanding of HOW the descriptions of the pillars are derived. In other words, it is information without knowing how that information is obtained, resulting in a handicapped ability to use the information at a higher level.

It is unfortunate that many students think having notes on the individual 60 pillars is the most valuable part of any learning segment involving the 60 Jia Zi. The notes do give a short-term boost to the accuracy of your reading of the Day Master because you now have the ability to understand a person’s inherent core personality (the Day Pillar after all, is YOU) but without knowing HOW and WHY the attributes are such, it is going to be restricted to just being able to give an immediate snapshot of the person’s personality.

In order to truly make use of the 60 Jia Zi but also, grow your knowledge of BaZi independently without the additional and constant crutch of classes and professional guidance, you need to understand principles and concepts rather than just the information in itself.

A good analogy is learning a sport like tennis. You can keep on taking classes from a coach, improving and working on your strokes. BUT, the key to becoming better is practice (on your own) and also, understanding the mechanics of a particular stroke and then tuning the stroke yourself (based on your personal physique/biomechanics). In the case of BaZi, what this means is that once you have gone as far as M3, the key is not just practice, but being able to understand the principles and concepts – the big picture components, so that you can self-improve as you go along.

In my 60 Jia Zi class, I take a slightly different approach. My first goal is for students to understand HOW the 60 Jia Zi personalities are derived. This often involves a great deal of pictoral Bazi practice. Then students learn to associate the 60 Jia Zi within the context of opposites, attracting and paired groups based on the inherent qualities of the Pillar. Then, students learn how to use the Jia Zi to read other components in the chart (specifically the individual Ten Gods) which is essentially a sophisticated application of Shifting Palace. Finally, we then practice snapshot reading the Day Master and how to use the 60 Jia Zi in the entire chart to gain faster and more accurate insight into a particular component of the chart.

Part of becoming more accurate with your BaZi interpretations involves being able to read a BaZi chart in a unified and singular manner. One should be able to have a ‘snapshot’ impression of a particular aspect of the chart (ie: Day Master, spousal relationship) but also read the qualities and unique aspects of a particular component of the person’s life (ie: character of children, character of superior, character of staff) whilst being able to look at the overall pictoral quality of the BaZi chart. Learning the 60 Jia Zi in a conceptual and principle-driven manner allows you to improve your singular aspect reading skills, whilst also enhancing your understanding of the 10 year Luck Pillars and how to use Annual and Monthly Pillars with more accuracy.

Why is your class restricted to M3 and above?

This is simply because information-wise, M3’s have slightly more knowledge that M2s. However, this is probably a generalised assumption rather than something that can be supported by empirical knowledge. I have taught classes with M4’s who knew as much as M2s students – cluelessness I think is not necessarily the exclusive purview of M2 students. That being said, fresh M2 students mixed into a class with M3 and M4 students is very challenging to manage. It is not always possible to ensure a good level of understanding for all parties, especially as M2 students don’t know Fan Yin and Fu Yin (which in associating the 60 Jia Zi, FanYin/FuYIn indirectly comes into the picture). M2s that made up the majority of a class would work but 1-2 M2s in a class full of M3 and M4 people would be difficult. The knowledge gap between M3 and M4 on the other hand is usually more manageable.

What if I am M2 and I want to take this class?

I would suggest you find 5 other classmates who have also done M2 and band together to form a class. Minimum class numbers are 5 and so six is just nice.

I don’t have the notes from M4 on the 60 Jia Zi. Will I be able to get those notes?

No. You will have to procure those notes some other way. My preferred teaching method is the Socratic method – students learn by Q&A method but also, through big picture, concept and principle driven teaching and application. Furthermore, the notes are just a crutch – remember that when you are doing the actual consultation or reading, you cannot be referring to your notes all the time. Thus, principle and concept driven teaching ensures you will always be able to KNOW THE ANSWER, even if you can’t REMEMBER THE NOTES.

Will I receive any notes from this class?

You’ll get the teaching slides in soft copy but there will not be any formal NOTES per se provided. That being said, I’m a big believer in not writing notes in a class all the time. Bring a note book by all means but the goal is to focus on practicing your skill, not filling up a notebook with information. Notes are supposed to be an aide-de-memoir, not a means to an end.

You will gain more from the practicum sessions where you are expected to use the principles and big picture concepts you have learnt to engage in ACTUAL live on the spot interpretation and analysis of a BaZi chart.

Will you go through each and every one of the 60 Jia Zi in the class?

No. We’ll practice with some of the individual groups of pillars but I will not recite chapter and verse on all 60.

And I don’t do it because there is no need to do so.

Granted, some pillars do present with a greater level of complexity than others and these will be covered. BUT there is no need to exhaustively cover each pillar – it is simply laborious (unnecessarily laborious) and again represents passive learning that does not promote greater understanding or the ability to actually interpret the charts. I have seen and met many students with extremely precise notes on the 60 Jia Zi from doing M4 twice or three times. Yet, there is a lacking in the ability to actually USE the information, or even utilise it for Shifting Palace. Information without application is as good as not knowing really which is why the focus of my classes is always practical application.

How will I benefit from taking this class? I am an M2 student.

Depending on your level of practice, you can either benefit a lot or very little. If you have finished taking M2 and don’t know which way the sky points (meaning, you’re confused or not sure of what you have just learnt), you might be better off taking a Practical BaZi Magic class first. If on the other hand you have taken M2, practiced and know your basics very thoroughly AND you have read Joey Yap’s 10 GODS, then this class will benefit you in terms of enhancing your level of application skill.

To determine if you know enough and are familiar enough with the M2 basics, do the Quick BaZiqueen Test:

• Do you know all of the 10 Gods attributes and characteristics?
• Do you know the 10 Gods for the other Day Masters other than your own?
• Can you name the Stem that represents the Eating God of Jia Wood?
• Can you name the Stem that represents the indirect Resource Star of Geng Metal?
• Which 10 God represents a person’s mother?

If you have to LOOK UP ALL of these questions in your notes, then you would not benefit from taking this class. If however, you can answer 3 out of 5 without referring to your notes, then you will definitely benefit from the class.

How will I benefit from taking this class? I am an M3 student

 Much of this depends on your goals in terms of BaZi. If you plan to go on to M4, then this class is best done AFTER you’ve gone to M4 perhaps.

If however you do not intend to go to M4 (or do not in the near future intend to do so) AND you are able to do the Quick BaZiqueen Test with relative ease, this class would definitely benefit you by giving you an affordable way to continue to grow your BaZi interpretation skills, whilst enabling you to focus on practical application of your BaZi knowledge. After taking this class, you should have an enhanced accuracy in your readings and also, speed up the process of reading a chart, specifically the Day Master and key components of the chart such as the quality/characteristics of spouse, children, superior, staff, siblings/business partners.

How can I benefit from taking this class? I am an M4 student.

The most obvious question for the M4 student is why take the class when you already have the notes on the 60 Jia Zi. Firstly, the notes alone are merely that – notes. They do not provide you with insight into how to add to that information because you may not understand fully how the information was derived (in particular, the attraction-repel aspects of the 60 Jia Zi, in terms of the Branches and the corresponding attraction/repel Pillars themselves). Secondly, the key to successfully utilising the 60 Jia Zi is practice – the practical component of this class will enable you to enhance your use of the 60 Jia Zi and increase the speed and accuracy of your analysis. Thirdly, the value of the 60 Jia Zi is when combined with the Shifting Palace method to read specific components or elements of the chart such as partners, spouse, children or parents, and when it is used to read the 10 year Luck Pillar and the Annual Luck Pillar. This is what you will get from the class. Indeed, m3 and m4 students stand to gain the most from taking this class as it will build on the foundation of knowledge you already have.

The 60: Understanding the Jia Zi will run on the 19-20 January 2013 in Kuala Lumpur if the minimum class quota (5 students) is satisfied. Failing which, a new date will be selected to run the class. Private groups please inquire at bazibuzz@gmail.com.

For a good part of this year, I’ve been working on developing an IOS app of my own. After browsing around on the Apps Store, I felt that there was simply an absence of a BaZi app that could be used by ANYONE, with or without BaZi knowledge. There was a particular absence of Apps for people who read/speak English – most of the apps appear to assume that the only people interested in BaZi or metaphysical apps would be people who read/speak Chinese.

The plan was not to make an app that already did what other people’s apps did – in other words, if you are looking for an App to plot charts or do something utilitarian like tell you the strength of the Day Master or give you the Shen Sha Stars or formulaically calculate what are your favourable and unfavourable, this is not the App for you. There are tons of apps out there that already do that anyway.

I designed my apps to be more about the CONTENT rather than the utility. Much of it comes from my experience with my friends, seated around the dinner table or coffee table, just talking about charts. Most of the time, they were only interested in knowing certain things about people they had just met and they weren’t really interested in the chart (cause it meant nothing to them anyway) – they wanted to know STUFF. ABOUT. THE. PERSON.

So i have designed my Apps so that you can get well, STUFF ABOUT THE PERSON. Content essentially.

The Apps are centered around two of the most popular topics around: LOVE and WORK because most people are primarily concerned with who they are working with and who they are spending the rest of their non working hours with! This app is not meant for pro BaZi users – in other words, people who already know how to read charts or how to interpret them. Instead, this is a App for amateur BaZi users and in most cases, people who believe in the power of BaZi and want to be able to utilise it for themselves but have no inclinations in which to learn the subject in order to make use of the information.

The core of the information is from the Day Master – now, obviously, it may seem superficial on some levels to simply base a reading on the Day Master. But the more I practice BaZi, the more I feel that so much of a person’s character comes down to their Day Master in many ways. And so in this respect, a reading based on the Day Master, can be more accurate than one realises, especially for broad character readings but also for certain specifics.

To make the Apps accessible, I have priced them at 0.99 cents. I hope that BaZi aficienados will find this fun and useful at the same time to use. Do send me feedback on what you think of the App – for those more advanced students, a Plus version is in the works, which will use the 60 Jia Zi as the basis for the readings.

Both apps work on the Ipad and the iPhone but have been optimised for the iPhone. Click on the icons below to go straight to the Apps on the iTunes Store. To learn more about the Apps, go to the PureBaZi Love App page or thePureBaZi Work App page.

Obama goes back to the White House, thanks to Gui Hai.

Here’s what’s been going through my mind in terms of calling this election. Let’s re-look the candidate’s charts but with some of the relevant chart interactions marked in and also, viewed with the Luck Pillar in the equation at the same time.

Barack Obama - BaZi & LP

Mitt Romney - BaZi & LP

A factor that I did not consider previously was personal bias. If you read my 2008 post, you will know that I was biased in favour of Obama but felt he would not benefit from being president in 2008 because it was simply a lousy time to be president (proven right ultimately on that count!). I will also state clearly here that I am not that in favour of Mitt Romney as President of the United States. Not of course that it matters since I am not American! But personal bias of the analyst must always be considered here. So consider me…biased.

Now, let’s measure up the pros and cons for each candidate. I’ll start with the Challenger.

The Geng Challenger

Working in Romney’s favour as far as his BaZi is concerned is his 10 year Luck Pillar, Bing Shen 丙 申 which combines with the Tai Sui of the year, Dragon, but also indicates the presence of the Power Star, the 7 Killings Star. Admittedly, Bing Shen is not really a strong Bing Pillar, since this Bing Fire has no roots. But can be argued that Shen x Yin produces Ding Fire and although the year is not that conducive to that, one shall give Mitt the benefit of the BaZi and say, Officer Star is also produced as a result of the clash.

Within Romney’s chart, the Officer Star itself would not be considered poor quality – he wouldn’t be where he is and where he was if it was a poor quality Star. There are some minus points because there is a Punishment involving the 7 Killings Star between the Day and Hour Pillar but fundamentally the Star isn’t too bad, although the 7 Killings Star is clearly better than the Direct Officer Star given the hour of birth (which I presume to be accurate). Further, election day is 6th November 2012, which is the last day of the Dog Month. If the Dog holds sway at this point (which it is not likely to but…then again, let’s assume it might), is a combination with Romney’s Tiger Day, producing his Officer Star.

NB: Aside note, interesting that the Election Day BaZi shows both a Xin and a Geng on top, both seated on Resource, and both with Officer present, but in the Graveyard.

Election Day 2012 (time not relevant)

On the other hand, there is much against Romney. First off, the Three Harmony Combination with the Grand Duke (Dragon) from his Luck Pillar does not produce his favourable element or his officer Star/Element. Indeed, it produces an element that Geng Metal does not use particularly well, which is Water. On the other hand, it produces an element which his Rob Wealth Star (the Xin Si in the Hour) uses particularly well, namely, Water. Secondly, Ren Chen of 2012 combines with Ding in the Year, which is Romney’s Direct Officer Star. So the Direct Officer is combined away by the year.  But as my previous 2008 Election prediction has proven – never under-estimate the power of the annual elements. And in the case of 2012, there are no favourable Romney elements (which would be Fire and Metal) and there are no elements that indicate a rise to Power, which are Officer Stars. Finally, Bing Shen is a Combination-Destruction with Xin Si, which  can be interpreted in a number of ways. One, his personal Rob Wealth and 7 Killings Star, which represent popularity and power, combine with his LP to produce Water, which is not a useful element for this Day Master, and yields the image of Sinking Metal when we look at it in tandem with the year. Two, Xin Si is his competitor (Obama) and his competitor is combining with the Power Star  and combining with his supporters/fans (Xin + Bing, Si + Shen). So the LP may not actually be favouring Romney so much as favouring his competitors. It is relevant to recall that Romney was going through the same Luck Pillar in 2008, when he lost the GOP nomination to McCain.

So, if we were to summarise it as follows:

Yes He Can: 7 Killings in Luck Pillar, Luck Pillar in Combination with Year, Luck Pillar produces Officer Star when Clashed with Tiger.

No He Can’t: 7 Killings Star in LP is weak, LP Combination with Year produces unfavourable Element (Water). 7 Killings Star in chart negatively affected (both the Tiger and the Snake, which provide the roots for his DO star in his chart).

As Romney is the contender, he needs to have a strong push in order to be able to unseat Obama. Which means that an Officer Star in the Stem of his Luck Pillar, is what we need to see arguably. And that’s not present in his chart right now. The compromised 7 Killings Star in the Hour (which interestingly,indicates Rob Wealth seated on Direct Officer, which is Xin Si) also is very telling because at 65, we would be looking at Romney’s Hour Pillar to determine the outcome of this huge event for him. That of course is assuming the online hour for Romney is correct.

The Ji Earth Incumbent

There is little going for Obama in his BaZi chart. No Combinations to call upon with the Grand Duke of the year, unlike in 2008. Further, his Officer Star – Jia Xu – is being pummeled big time in 2012 from the Dragon x Dog Clash and the Ox, which holds a very important element for him, Gui Water, is also being whacked by the Dragon in a Destruction. Ominously, Dragon is the Graveyard for Yi Wood, which is the 7 Killings Star for Obama, potentially signifying an end to his period of power. The primary saving grace for Obama here is that he is in a strong Direct Officer Luck Pillar (Geng Yin LP) and the year contains his favourable element, which is Water.

The could-be-may-be factors in his favour are the potential cusp effect of the Pig Month and the bigger question of whether or not the Tiger-Dog Combination, which produces Fire (not necessarily a favourable element for this chart) works to his favour. The cusp effect of the Pig Month comes with a double advantage for Obama because Pig and Tiger is a Combination and Pig and Rabbit  Goat is also a combination and both these combos produce Obama’s Officer Element. So if Election Day’s energies lean towards the Pig (which logically they would given the proximity to Pig), then Obama has the advantage. Notably, Pig and Tiger is a very very strong Combination and given that we are in the last year of the Spring season, that Combo would probably be able to succeed (particularly in light of the season as well, Winter, which is the secondary support season for Wood).

The Fire element represents the Resource Star, which in the most basic form of expression, can be described as the ‘likeability’ star or ‘goodwill’ Star. This is essentially what makes people forgive your mistakes and give you a second chance. As an incumbent, it can be argued that this is an important Star to have – when you are already seated in the position, what you need is for people to be willing to just let you stay on, or for lack of a better word, give you the benefit of the doubt. When you are trying to get into the hot seat, you need to pry the incumbent out of his place, which requires a stronger officer Star. In this respect, Obama has the upper hand then by virtue of being the incumbent and because his overall 10 year Luck Pillar is simply indicative of being in power.

It should also be noted that in Obama’s chart, his opponents (the Rob Wealth and Friend Stars) are all ‘underneath his feet’ whilst in Romney’s chart, they are prominent next to him. And look better too – Xin Si projects leadership infinitely better than Geng Yin, which apparently only knows how to talk about money. (you can attribute that to backwards reasoning or just BaZi).

There is a train of thought as well that clashes and destructions to a chart may not necessarily represent a bad development per se if it provides the opportunity to get rid of baggage. It can also denote simply a very difficult and challenging path towards achieving something, which has been the case with this race.  Further, Yi wood entering the Graveyard could represent either the end of Obama’s term in office (Officer Star enters graveyard) OR it could denote a new period of improved government since it is specifically the 7 Killings Star that enters the graveyard. And the 7 Killings Star can represent one’s enemies, political or otherwise. As the US Election will be accompanied by a Senatorial and Congressional race at the same time, Obama may find himself in the position to do a bit more with his enemies in the two Houses having been kicked out. So the interpretation of Yi Wood entering graveyard CANNOT be said to be definitive of Obama’s time in the white house coming to an end either, especially given the 10 year Luck Pillar.

So, if we were to summarise it as follows:

Yes He Can: Direct Officer  in 10 year Luck Pillar Branch, Favourable Element in year.

No He Can’t: Officer Star is clashed by year, No Combination with Tai Sui, 7 Killings (Power Star) enters Graveyard in Dragon.

We can argue Obama the prosperous Ji Earth buries Romney the weak Metal and that is in itself a factor to consider. Further, Obama’s chart clearly shows a very very strong Officer Star whereas Romney’s chart is clearly dominated by the Wealth Star more than anything else. Finally, Obama’s Officer Star, which is Wood, is fed by the Water in the year but ALSO assisted by the Dragon year, which is the season of Wood.

Beyond the Basics

One can also look at some more metaphysical mind-boggling ideas in play. For example, Ren Chen represents a strong Officer for Ding Fire, which is Romney’s Direct Officer. Ren is also the 7 Killings Star for Bing Fire, which is present in Romney’s LP. (for the uninitiated, this is using the idea of ‘what brings what’ and doing some mind-boggling Shifting Palace in the chart). So Romney’s power star (Ding), is bringing a Power star with it, which does suggest possible victory for Romney.

Similarly in Obama’s LP, his Officer is accompanied by it’s own Officer (geng is officer for Jia, Jia is officer for Ji). In the year 2012, his Officer Star is fed by Resource from the year (water), which denotes, goodwill as a result of the leadership that he has shown in the past (or present), is sustaining/supporting his Officer Star.

It helps that Obama just went through a Hurricane in New York – Water feeding Wood allowing Obama to be Presidential.Poor Romney on the other hand, is sinking under all that water because he hasn’t had a chance to project leadership (Water essentially, spluttering out his Fire). This imagery goes a long way to suggest the outcome in a sense, it quite obvious, on a balance of probabilities.

On the other hand, one could also argue that Obama’s Officer Star, is fueled by its Indirect Resource Star. That can imply excessive optimism on the part of Obama (head is in the clouds, deluded as to how well he is doing) but it can also indicate, there is an unknown X factor (likeability) that is working in his favour.

The Throwdown: Making the Call.

The bottom line is that it’s a close race because both candidates have strong pros and cons to their chart.

I think ultimately it comes down to simply who has the better Luck Pillar for the office of President namely who has the Luck Pillar that indicates the Officer. On this evaluation, Obama will win again because his officer is in the Branch. The other basis for argument is that Obama is favoured by the year in terms of elements whilst Romney is not, since Water is not his favourable element.

The up in the air factors (election day, effect of Pig vs Dog month) also favour him that marginal percentage more, because they bring about his Officer Star. Dog, we should recall, is the graveyard of Fire, which is Romney’s officer Star although Dog does combine with his Tiger to produce Fire.

So you read it here first: Obama will win. Romney will lose. Team Obama-Biden will triumph in 2012.

A couple of days ago a friend asked me if I’m going to make the call about November 6th. This was a friend who won a bet with me (after I called it for McCain) on the basis of BaZi. I told him that it was close and that one of the reasons why I have not been able to write my answer to this question is because I am not sure. Also, after revisiting the lessons learned from ‘Who will be POTUS‘ (and the accompanying post where I dissected the error of my ways – ‘Revisiting the Obama-McCain Bazi Analysis‘ ), I’m writing this post to both make my prediction (wrong or right because what’s the fun in private predictions) and to explore methods for making such predictions. Finally, hindsight being 20-20, applying an understanding of 4 more years of BaZi practice to the whole equation may yield different thinking too.

In my previous analysis of the 08 election, I placed a great deal of premium on the relationship of the players to the Tai Sui or Grand Duke of the year. Accordingly, I called it for McCain because both McCain and Palin at the time, had Branches in their BaZi that connected to the Grand Duke of the Year, which was the Rat.

John McCain - BaZi & LP

Sarah Palin - BaZi & LP

Obama on the other hand, had a combination with the year but it was a weaker combination – the Six Harmony. His running mate, Joseph Biden, also had the same weaker combination.

Barack Obama - BaZi & LP

Joseph Biden - BaZi & LP

On the assumption that the key was the combination with the Grand Duke, McCain-Palin were a shoo-in, especially since McCain was also going through an Officer Luck Year.

Revisiting the Methodology

Using the year’s influence alone clearly is not the answer because frequently, US Presidential candidates only become confirmed at the party’s convention, which takes place late in the year. So the Tai Sui’s influence will clearly impact on ANYONE who succeeds in becoming the candidate for their party. To succeed to the White House clearly, the Tai Sui’s influence is less relevant perhaps than the Luck Pillar’s influence. In the case of McCain, he was actually going through a Hurting Officer Luck Pillar and the combination of his Luck Pillar with the Year (2008) was producing Water, which was his COMPETITOR STAR. As McCain was a strong Day Master, this was NOT a favourable element for him.

By contrast, Obama was going through the last year of his Xin Mao Luck Pillar. With the assistance of the Pig month of 2008 (which was Gui Hai and was only 3 days from the election date), this gave him the complete Hai-Mao-Wei combination, which produces his Officer Star.

In my 2008 methodology, I argued that the Three Harmony Combination would trump the Six Harmony Combination and called it for McCain-Palin on the basis that they had the Three Harmony Combination. In my excitement, I forgot the important secondary rule which was: is the combination favourable and does it produce the Star we want. Although Obama had an inferior combination with the year, his Three Harmony Combination produced his Officer Star, versus Palin and McCain, who had their superior Three Harmony Combination with the year produces no Officer Star.

Emphasis was also placed on the effect of the Zi in 2008 contaminating/Harming the 7 Killings Star for both McCain and Harming the 7 Killings Star of Obama. However, it can be argued that the effect and power of the Luck Pillar supersedes this arguably or is not particularly relevant since given the gruelling nature of the US Presidential race, some reputational damage is inevitable!

So, returning to the subject of the methodology, one is confronted with the question of how quite to rank the various factors that are in play – namely:

• 10 year Luck Pillar
• Combination with Tai Sui of the year
• Harm/Clash involving Officer Star
• Elements of the Year Pillar

Further, the methodology for evaluation must take into account the difference between the 2008 election and the 2012 election. In 2008, both Obama and McCain were Contenders. Arguably, in that year, the power of the Officer Star is key, along with the influence of the Favourable Element to tip things along just that much more. In 2012, Obama is the incumbent, and Romney is the challenger – is the Officer Star just as relevant? Significantly also, Obama is now in a very different Luck Pillar from the Luck Pillar he went through in 2008.

This is Lance Armstrong’s chart (hour not correct). I thought I would continue some of the discussion about his chart here.

Postscript: the Luck Pillars have now been included into the post.

So the thing about this chart is what made him cheat/dope?  I have been thinking about this, especially because when I first looked at the chart, it did not scream ‘CHEATER’ to me. Honestly I was a little surprised because I didn’t immediately see the Stars that I’d expected to see in the strength that I expected to see them. Not of course that the ‘cheater’ Stars (7K, RW and more to the point, IR) were not present – in the chart, these stars ARE present but not in overwhelming strength although granted, the HOUR is not determinable (although given the circumstances, it would be an educated guess that it’s either a Dragon or a Dog or an Ox). But the broad composition of the chart is not suggestive of a cheater. It is strongly suggestive of a highly competitive personality, but that does not equate with cheating.

Also been thinking about some answers I got from students over the weekend about their expectations on what they should be able to do after learning BaZi to a certain level. One student said he wanted to be able to do matching of staff to job requirements in his workplace and it occurred to me to ask if the person felt they were qualified in terms of real world knowledge (as opposed to BaZi knowledge) as to what a particular job demanded in terms of skillsets in order to successfully do the matching. If you have ZERO knowledge of how to define a particular set of skills for a specific type of job, how will you know if the BaZi chart matches the criteria?

Which brings me back to Lance Armstrong and the world of cycling, of which I know little about. Until of course, this whole debacle came out. And then there was ONE TELLING STATEMENT that I read in an article that sort of turned the lightbulb on for me on this whole thing. Normally, when a winner of a particular sporting event (ie: Olympics) is declared a cheat, the next in line will receive the medal. This was the case with Ben Johnson and Marion Jones. Their medals were stripped (or in Jones case, returned) and given to the next in line aka clean winner. But when it came to the Tour De France during the years that Armstrong was the winner, EVERY SINGLE CYCLIST who finished behind him was caught for doping.

It is now emerging that possibly, the world of cycling, in the period that Armstrong was riding, was a world where doping was de rigeur. It can be argued that in Armstrong’s chart, the DW star is almost as strong as the RW star. These two stars are contrary to each other but they also need each other in a sense. When DW is strong, the RW is needed to help the Day Master successfully control the strong DW. DW follows the rules, RW skirts them. So how do we reconcile this situation in the context of Lance Armstrong?

Well, one way to look at it was that he was a very competitive personality but one who also wanted to play by the rules. And in his mind, given that doping was rampant, Armstrong WAS playing by the rules by doping. The fact that he became exceptionally good at it from various accounts is demonstrative of his RW star and probably discovering the hidden potential of his IR star within the Pig of his year when it comes to out-thinking the testers and officials.

But did he intend to cheat to win or did he simply cheat because he believed that was the only way to win? Elements of his chart (particularly the HO and DW stars) suggest this may have been his mindset, that he did not think he could win without drugs and that it was not cheating if everyone else is doing it. The misconception of the DW Star is that the DW Star follows the rules. It does – whichever are the RULES OF THE DAY. Rules do not necessarily have to be ethical – notice that there is no DO star to speak off in Armstrong’s chart. A DW and DO star together would follow the rules but only follow the rules if they were ethical. A DW Star that is present WITHOUT a DO star will not react in the same manner. So if the rules of the day says that every guy who is competing against you is cheating, then you have to cheat too because that’s what the system is.

Maybe that’s why in Lance Armstrong’s own way, he doesn’t believe he cheated.

So yesterday’s post prompted a question from a student:

“you seem to have correctly highlighted all the challenges that we, as Bazi students, face while trying to analyse a chart. But how does one overcome these challenges ?? this point has not been touched upon, sadly in your post…”

I will be the bearer of bad news here and state the obvious. The answer is PRACTICE. 10,000 hours. The first 100 charts are free. And get the basics.

Let’s talk about the ‘getting the  basics’ part. I meet students who tell me they know the basics. Ya ya – got it all down to pat. Okay, so then out comes a chart and you start talking to them about it. And suddenly there are blank looks when you reference Chen and Mao and You.

BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THE CHINESE.

Sorry, fricking learn the Chinese if you want to learn BaZi. No excuses. Because if it takes you one second more to translate it in your mind, you’re losing the plot.

BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THE INTERACTIONS LIKE THE BACK OF THEIR HAND.

You can’t forget a combo. Or not see the Destruction. Or overlook the Harm. This is CRITICAL.

So, let’s say you know all this. You’re a diligent student who has spent hours and hours committing all this stuff to memory. You can see it right there without difficulty. So what next?

Well, no one can get good at this without pure immersive practice. You need to simply be 24X7X365 into Bazi if you want to see an exponential advancement in your practice.

If I ask someone who wants to improve their BaZi how many HOURS they spend looking and thinking about BaZi, I will be hard pressed I think to find a student who looks at charts every day, as often as they can, and most significantly, who is constantly practicing on real life guinea pigs.

Lesson #1: Staring at the chart in isolation in the comfort of your living room DOES NOT WORK.

There is no intellectual pressure that comes from reading the chart in the leisure of your bedroom. You are not squeezing your brain for the answer, you are tickling your brain for a giggle.

Lest it somehow is not made clear, BaZi is an intellectually rigorous topic. Of course, it has its frivolous levels too. But if you want to use it for more than idle pitter-patter, then you have to be prepared for the intellectual stone-grinding. And that means working the chart under the pressure of giving an answer that you can support intellectually.

So if you really want to advance yourself in the practice of BaZi and you think you’re advanced enough that you already know all the interactions etc, then start reading charts in front of REAL people. And start answering REAL questions, not the questions in your head.

Lesson #2: Ask. Questions.

When I look at a chart, I already have a good inkling about what the person’s problem is likely to be and what the likely risk areas are. BUT, I will only know this with GREAT EXACTITUDE when I know more about what the person does for a living and what their personal background is especially with career questions. The problem is many BaZi students, when they transition into using real life guinea pigs for readings, place too much pressure on themselves to KNOW THE ANSWER. Before you can know the answer, you must first know the question. God only answers PRAYERS right? So you have to ASK FOR SOMETHING before they can even be granted. If you want mercy, don’t you have to beg for it first? So the next frequent mistake by the advanced BaZi student is to assume that they must somehow an oracle and know what the client wants to know. Whenever I am given a chart by someone, the first thing out of MY MOUTH is: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

Make your life easier in terms of figuring out the analysis by working on a small section of the chart first. It takes practice to be able to organise your thoughts in a coherent manner and zero in on the problems at multiple levels. As you transition away from learning to advice giving, do not make your own life difficult by trying to grab everything at one go. Piece by piece. Focus on what it is that the person who is in front of you wants to know.

The corollary to this is not to be afraid of appearing like you don’t know what to say. On the contrary, by asking intelligent questions, you give yourself the opportunity to demonstrate what you ARE ABLE to discern from the chart. Appearing stupid comes when you fire without checking if the gun has bullets or not. Help yourself by formulating a line of inquiry. Always ask yourself: WHAT IS THE QUESTION.

Lesson #3: THERE IS NO FORMULA. NO SECRET. NO TECHNIQUES I DON’T KNOW ABOUT.

Okay, this one seriously drives me nutso. There is no secret formula. Actually, there is no formula. It is not see 1 plus 3 and then divide by 6 and the answer is you will be a rich man. So if you think the reason why you can’t master the analysis is because you don’t know the FORMULA, then you are barking up the wrong tree. There is no formula in BaZi. And if you are being given formulas to learn that will give you “quick answers”, then you will forever be limited as a consultant or even as someone trying to use BaZi for personal strategic advantage. The sooner you break out of the mindset of formulas, the quicker you’ll progress because you’ll start looking at the charts as individuals and not models.

That being said, modelling is useful in BaZi but not everyone knows how to break free of relying on models. Which is why I discourage the use of modelling. In 9 out of 10 students, it results in a lemming like approach with the inability to distinguish the subtle differences when one models differs from another.

Some people think the reason why they can’t analyse to a high level is because they don’t know enough ‘tricks’ – well here’s the secret: you have to find the tricks. There are no books. Every consultant learns their unique store of tricks through their own practice. Just like every magician must develop his own act, every consultant learns through the process of their own experience of solving problems. Beyond the intermediate level, BaZi requires self-discovery and realisation. You have to put the information together yourself, work out certain things yourself, and arrive at certain conclusions yourself because there are many things in BaZi that don’t exist any more, or are no longer relevant any more and applying archaic information to the modern world is like trying to win a war with Ewoks.

Lesson #4: It’s the 10 Gods.

I can repeat this ad nauseum. I am constantly SHOCKED by the number of people who tell me – yeah, I know the 10 Gods and then proceed to reveal the exact opposite. This has to be the biggest whopper that I encounter with advanced students. What they usually mean is one of the below:

a) I know the ten gods – it’s [name of the 10 gods]. I don’t know what they mean but i know OF them. This is like me saying, yes, I know Obama – he’s the president of the United States.

b) I know the ten gods but only for my own day master and maybe one more day master that happens to be my wife, kid, girlfriend, boyfriend, hated enemy, rival, boss. Take your pick. If this is your definition of the 10 gods, then it explains why you are getting nowhere with the 10 Gods. It’s the equivalent of saying you know how to speak French but only the pick-up lines or you can speak German but only the swear words.

c) I know the ten gods but I only know like 2 attributes associated with each of these ten gods and really I’m only interested in knowing about the Wealth Stars. (see above (b))

d) I know the ten gods but I have no clue how they co-relate to each other. This is a slightly more advanced 10 Gods problem but is also a reason why people have difficulty with developing their analysis. Being able to connect the dots with the 10 Gods in terms of which Stars are in oppositional and cooperative relationships with each other is crucial to being able to develop a clearer picture of the chart. Which way does a particular chart tilt based on the composition of the Stars in the chart? Is it more on the ‘Direct’ side or the Indirect side? Is the chart consistent in its star composition? Are the stars that are present in the chart ‘friends’ or ‘adversaries’?

The fundamental problem when it comes to the 10 Gods and BaZi students is a lack of understand of the 10 Gods CONCEPTUALLY. At this point, I can see the 2#$@#?$@#$@#%#% – What is this conceptual understanding of the 10 Gods?

A conceptual understanding of the 10 Gods means that you understand a particular 10 God as an IDEA or a PRINCIPLE, and not just associate it with a specific THING, PERSON, CHARACTERISTIC. Sure, we start students out trying to understand the 10 Gods within the context of specifics but eventually, one has to be able to perceive the 10 Gods as having a specific core quality, which can then be applied to everything in this universe.

For example, the Direct Wealth Star is always associated with income of a salaried nature. Every student knows this (btw, if you did not know this, then you do not know the 10 Gods and that is why you can’t do this BaZi thing – kindly now appropriately downgrade your level of knowledge and go back to Module 2). But what the students fail to reconcile this with is that the actual idea or principle that the Direct Wealth Star epitomises is regularity, consistency and the proverbial bird-in-hand. Accordingly, Direct Wealth would reference any ACTION or OBJECT or SITUATION that has a regular, consistent and ‘safety first’ quality to it. Once you understand the 10 gods in this manner, then you are free of the limitations of having a 10 Gods vocabulary that is defined by books. You are able to define actions, activities, persons, strategies, approaches yourself, and add to this vocabulary accordingly, rather than be lost when something doesn’t fall into a known pigeon hole. As they say, it’s never about the KNOWN KNOWS as it is about the UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS.

(and if you are wondering how you can learn this ‘conceptual understanding’ of the 10 gods, it is actually in Joey Yap’s 10 Gods book. And no, I don’t make any money promoting it).

Lesson #5: WORLD VIEW MATTERS.

Perhaps one of the biggest stumbling blocks of all to successfully analysing a BaZi chart is ignorance. And I don’t mean ignorance of the topic. I mean ignorance of the world out there. I tell students of BaZi this all the time: WORLD VIEW MATTERS. If your world view is small, then as a consultant, you will forever be limited in your capacity to solve problems because you simply cannot understand your clients. Small minded consultants or consultants with a limited world view are good at solving SMALL PROBLEMS or what I call housewife problems. They do not know how to solve serious problems because they simply aren’t worldly and knowledgeable enough to provide an informed intelligent opinion. Many many people don’t know the world beyond their own doorstep or their own world. How then do you expect to be able to give good advice and provide useful solutions if you know nothing beyond your own backyard?

For example, a teenager comes in and says, they want to become a doctor. Is there a way to know if a person can become a doctor? Well, obviously you need brains but I assume that since a person comes into the room with the stated objective of wanting to become a doctor, they are willing to study to get the grades to enter medical school. And besides, its a misconception that intelligence is the sole basis for determining if someone should be a doctor. If someone tells me they want to be a doctor because they like studying, I’d be the first person to say you will be a lousy unsuccessful doctor because being a doctor requires more than the ability to regurgitate information. It demands selflessness. Compassion. bedside manner. Trust. Lots of other things. And then of course, being a doctor nowadays is not good enough you need to be a specialist. So how do you know if someone might be better off being a dermatologist? Or a psychiatrist? Or maybe they shouldn’t even see patients at all unless they are dead people?

As a BaZi consultant, you have to KNOW THESE WORLDS. If someone comes in and tells me they are a banker, I need to know what kind of banker they are to determine if they are in the right job within the banking world. Strategic minded people should not work in IPO departments, they are better in corporate finance. Sales-driven individuals should not work in an advisory capacity because they simply are not skilled at giving advice. And shockingly enough, there is no place in the world of banking for fiscally conservative and responsible individuals. If you want to work in Goldman Sachs, you best be greedy and amoral to survive and prosper.

You can only be able to speak to the client in the language they understand if you appreciate and know about their world. And if you want to come up with solutions they can implement, then again you need to know their world because that is how you know the limitations and boundaries of what solutions are available to them.

By the same token, I am constantly amazed at how people with tremendous knowledge of finance, banking, management, business conveniently ignore their own knowledge and assume the BaZi chart is somehow going to triumph all the information they already know. Having a world view also means making use of the knowledge you already have and filtering it through the chart. What you know is not irrelevant, it has now simply become more informed by your BaZi knowledge.

So, if you really want to know why it is that you are having a hard time getting to the next level as far as BaZi practice is concerned, take a look at the list above, and decide where your deficiencies lie. Because by understanding what it is that you don’t know – you can then figure out what you have to do to learn what you need to learn.